Coverage considerations for CDMA overlay of rural analog sites

It is well established that a direct CDMA overlay provides excellent portable-grade coverage on existing networks already configured for good analog portable-grade coverage. This paper examines coverage considerations for CDMA overlay in rural areas where the underlying AMPS network was not originally designed to provide portable-grade coverage. CDMA portable coverage in such areas is compared to both AMPS portable coverage and 3 W AMPS mobile coverage. Methods are identified for minimizing the cost of providing good-quality CDMA in-car portable coverage from overlay of omnidirectional AMPS cell sites in rural areas.